We traveled from Copenhagen via Amsterdam to Atlanta. At no point before we arrived on US soil did any airport employee give Jon even the tiniest bit of leeway because of his condition, but in Atlanta he was treated like royalty and whisked past queues for special assistance treatment everywhere. This focus on making life easier for anyone brandishing a walking stick continues in a good supply of disabled parking spaces everywhere and in large disabled toilets in even the most dismal fast food outlet. Plus we just love American hotel rooms where it is perfectly normal to get two double beds so we can both have a good night’s sleep.
Tourist attractions are also highly geared towards anyone suffering, as most Americans outside a few cities in the northeast do, from ambulophobia (fear of walking). Parking is provided near all sights worth seeing, walking distances and number of stairs are meticulously listed, shuttle buses are provided as an alternative to even quite short strolls, and the patience of both guides and fellow tourists for slow walkers is admirable. In the larger supermarkets they even offer to lend you a motorized wheelchair!
So we saw stuff and did stuff and enjoyed stuff. Not quite as much stuff as last time we were on holiday, though, and our planned itinerary did have to be adjusted quite early on as it became clear that Jon really can’t do more than one thing a day. So we learned to take things more slowly. Occasionally he napped in the car while I took in a museum or went for a walk in the woods or a dip in the ocean, and invariably he napped while I drove us from A to B. It worked out pretty well.(If you zoom in really close, you might be able to see the giant fish Jon caught in the Atlantic. Him and Hemingway are as one.)
BTW, Jon had his neuropsychological exam yesterday. We need a day or two to think and digest it before posting about it. Next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment